When bone is cut or opened, the bone bleeds. During surgical procedures, if it is necessary to cut or open a section of bone, bone wax is applied along the cut or open section to stem the bleeding. In the past the bone wax applicator has taken the form of the dissector 10 shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The dissector of FIG. 1 is known as a xe2x80x9cPenfieldxe2x80x9d and has a manually engageable handle 11 and a flattened tip 12 formed at an angle to the handle. The flattened tip is used to apply and spread the bone wax over the cut or open section of bone. The dissector tip 12 comes in varying sizes and is selectable by the surgeon to accommodate the task at hand. The xe2x80x9cPenfieldxe2x80x9d tip is shaped somewhat in the form of a spatula and the present invention envisions size variations of the tip to accommodate the surgeon""s preference.
A bone wax applicator has means for providing a force and contains a cylinder having a piston end and an outlet end. A piston is coupled to the force and is disposed within the cylinder for close sliding fit therein and for movement between the cylinder piston end and the cylinder outlet end in response to application of the force. The cylinder has an access opening and an access opening cover that is moveable between open and closed positions. An open wax transport tube is connected at one end to the cylinder outlet end and has an opposing free end. The opposing free end has a discharge opening. A dissector tip is attached to the opposing free end adjacent the discharge opening.
A bone wax applicator is useful for controlling bone bleeding, wherein the applicator contains a manually engageable force generator and a cylinder having an axial length, a piston end and an outlet end. A piston is connected to the manually engageable force generator. The piston is configured for close sliding fit within the cylinder and for movement between the cylinder piston and cylinder outlet ends. The cylinder has an accessible wax receiving chamber therein when the piston is positioned at the piston end of the cylinder. An access cover is provided for the wax receiving chamber, wherein the access cover is moveable between open and closed positions. A wax distribution tube is connected at one end to the cylinder outlet end and has a wax outlet port at an opposing free end. A dissector tip is mounted adjacent the wax outlet port for applying the wax supplied through the wax outlet port.
A bone wax application gun has a gun body with a gun handle depending from the gun body. A gun barrel extends laterally from the gun body. A gun trigger is pivotally mounted in the gun body and has an accessible free end and an opposing end. A cylinder having an axial length and an outlet end is mounted in the gun barrel. A piston is configured for a close sliding fit within the chamber. Means for providing movement of the piston along the cylinder axial length is disposed between the gun trigger opposing end and the piston, wherein such means is responsive to gun trigger pivotal motion. A wax transport tube is attached at one end to the cylinder outlet end and extends toward a free end from the gun barrel. The wax transport tube has a hole in the free end and a dissector tip is mounted on the wax transport tube adjacent to the free end. The cylinder has an accessible wax containment chamber therein.